1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to medical procedures and devices, and in particular, provides devices, systems, and methods for collecting surgical fluids during minimally invasive electrosurgery and other procedures.
Electrocautery has been in use for many years as a general surgical tool, particularly for procedures such as transcervical fibroid removal. In a typical fibroid removal, the uterus is flooded under sufficient fluid pressure to separate the walls of the uterus and render the surgical site suitable for observation. This procedure is generally described as uterine cavity distension. During flooding, an electrocautery surgical tool is positioned within the uterus through the cervix. Electrical current at high voltage settings is transmitted from a cutting surface of the surgical instrument to the surgical site. The electrosurgical device may be either monopolar or bipolar, and the distension fluid may be nonconductive or conductive.
The electrical current is concentrated at the cutting surface. Heat generated from the resistance of tissue to the flow of electrical current is high enough to vaporize cells near the cutting surface. Thus, a cut is made with little physical resistance to the cutting motion, and heat from the cut cauterizes small blood vessels, helping to maintain visibility and control.
Traditionally, electrosurgical resection of large quantities of tissue has required intermediate flushing of the internal surgical site to remove the severed tissue and electrosurgical debris. While such intermittent flushing can restore image quality, it greatly lengthens the time required for complete removal of the targeted endometrial tissues during fibroid removal.
More recently, continuous tissue removal methods and devices have been developed which greatly increase the speed of electrosurgical resection. In particular, resectors have been developed which include morcellators to fragment and remove the severed tissues during resection. Additionally, brute electrosurgical vaporization is now used to remove tissues, while a continuous flow of fluid over the surgical site from the direction of the viewing scope maintains image quality. Each of these new, improved procedures involves a significant increase in total fluid volume, as compared to the intermittent flushing of traditional electrosurgery.
A variety of additional surgical procedures have also been developed using large volumes of fluid, together with laser vaporization, microwave heating (often using a cooled fluid), heated and/or cooled fluids for direct tissue ablation, and the like. Hence, a wide variety of therapies, both minimally invasive and traditional, now make use of large volumes of surgical fluids. The collection and disposal of these large volumes of surgical fluid have become increasingly problematic.
A variety of fluid collection devices are currently available. Unfortunately, existing surgical fluid collection systems were often designed with a small container size, as this was generally sufficient for intermittent flushing. In light of the increasing awareness of the dangers posed by blood and other surgical debris, these known small devices have been modified to include disposable liners.
Known lined collection systems have two primary disadvantages. First, a vacuum within the container often draws the fluids into the liner from the surgical site, and known container structures would often collapse under the pressure load if they were resized for modern fluid volumes. In other words, simply increasing the size of existing liners to accommodate increased quantities of surgical fluid can result in large pressure loads across the liner and/or the surrounding vacuum chamber structure, requiring unwieldy and expensive structures.
The second major disadvantage of existing surgical fluid collection systems is that a complex arrangement of tubing is often required to accommodate the numerous small containers and disposable liners. This complexity increases the set-up and break-down time, increases the likelihood of an error during set-up, and greatly increases the probability that contaminated surgical fluids will spill during detachment and removal of the liners.
In light of the above, it would be desirable to provide improved surgical fluid collection devices and methods. It would be particularly advantageous if such improved devices and methods could accommodate the large volumes of surgical fluids which are a by-product of many of the new minimally invasive surgical procedures. It would be especially desirable if such improved devices and methods included a simplified connection arrangement, and facilitated the safe disposal of surgical fluids with minimum risk to the attending medical personnel.
2. Description of the Background Art
U.S. Pat. No. 4,516,973 describes a one piece disposable collection bag having a rigid cover. U.S. Pat. No. 4,675,010 describes a thoracic drainage collection system and method which makes use of a flexible disposable collection bag. U.S. Pat. No. 5,470,324 describes a non-refluxing suction canister system.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,279,602 describes a suction drainage infection control system, while U.S. Pat. No. 5,437,836 describes a method of, and container for, treating waste liquid containing body fluid. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,234,419 and 5,185,007 describes suction drainage infection control systems.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,419,093, 4,321,922 and 3,745,999 describe methods of receiving and disposing of fluids from the body, and related devices. U.S. Pat. No. 5,112,323 describes a wound evacuator. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,930,997, 4,798,578, 4,795,448, 4,775,360, 4,522,623, 4,346,711, 4,060,107, 3,845,765, 3,704,709, and 3,699,815 are also relevant.